Something smells in Sylacauga, and it appears that the owners of the offended noses are the only people who can do anything about it. Sixty of them convened Tuesday night at the J. Craig Smith Community Center for the first meeting of Sylacauga Concerned Citizens for a Better Environment.

After more than a year of seeking relief from a foul stench arising from the REEF Environmental wastewater treatment plant outside the city, Sylacauga resident Clara Curtis felt frustrated and abandoned. Neither the city nor the county has the authority to force REEF to eliminate the odor, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management is satisfied to levy a fine, and municipal and private lawsuits are still weeks away from their scheduled court date.

Meanwhile, on some days area residents cannot step outside their homes without encountering the nauseating odor, which they believe accompanies fumes damaging to their property and health. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is investigating these claims, but regardless of whether the fumes cause physical damage, the odor is deleterious to quality of life.

Curtis had had it up to her nostrils. She announced a community meeting and called in experienced environmental organizers to help the group get started. The speakers affirmed Curtis’s contention that residents have the power to bring about the changes they seek even when their governmental agencies do not – if they are well organized and can attract sufficient numbers to their cause.

“We have to learn to be much more assertive when it comes to our rights,” Barbara Evans of WildLaw said. “We have to step out of our comfort zone.”

Curtis said she’d call another meeting in a few weeks to organize officially and elect officers.

We commend her efforts and the participation of the 60 citizens who attended the first meeting Tuesday night. But we also remind them — and all Sylacauga area residents – of what Black Warrior River Keeper Nelson Brooke told those attending the first meeting:

“It’s going to take all of you coming together and joining hands and realizing that there is no state agency that is coming to save you; there is no federal agency … that is going to come save the day unless y’all get really organized and galvanize the community and double, triple, quadruple your numbers over time and start raising hell.”